Tuesday, April 23, 2013
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To church
Ferries
Heart checks
Bomb shock
Gay marriages seem
some time off at Shore
churches -- P3
Making a case for
ferries to Takapuna,
Browns Bay and
Waitemata Harbour
locations -- P4
Get your heart checked
before it's too late,
Buck Shelford says -- P5
Former Boston
Marathon winner Dame
Alison Roe is shocked
by the race bombings --
P6
Read top columnists
Pat Booth, Willie
Jackson and Sir Peter
Leitch at
northshoretimes.co.nz
Baby disrupts mum's play-watching
Speedy arrival: Kevin Twiggins, Jo-anne Twiggins and son Leo, 2, with new baby Alex.
By KATASHA McCULLOUGH
Pregnant mum Jo-anne
Twiggins overcame a flat
tyre, misplaced ticket
money and a ute that
wouldn't start to make it to
Company Theatre's pro-
duction of Calendar Girls.
But she faced a different
kind of problem when she
finally took her seat to
watch the play.
I literally sat down at
eight and started having
contractions,'' she says.
Mrs Twiggins made it
through the show's first half
by breathing gently, but by
the intermission the con-
tractions were six minutes
apart.
I really wanted to see
the second half but thought
I better be responsible and
leave,'' she says.
She drove home to Bays-
water where baby Alex
arrived at 9.50pm. He
weighed 3.58 kilograms.
Mrs Twiggins says her
husband Kevin was fantas-
tic.
The cord was wrapped
around Alex's neck twice
and he spotted that straight
away and sorted it out.''
The couple had planned a
home birth.
Mrs Twiggins had nabbed
a last-minute ticket to the
play on April 9, a day after
she was due to give birth.
She says it was quite
funny all that getting
naked and laughing
brought on the baby''.
Big brother Leo, 2, is very
proud, she says.
I'm very pleased to have
two boys. I'm excited to be a
full-on soccer mum.''
Mrs Twiggins is yet to see
the second half of Calendar
Girls, but hopes to make it
before the season ends.
Stand by my plan
By LIZ WILLIS
-- Len Brown
It's critical
that we hold the
line and don't
muck around
with this
process.
CONTINUED Page 2
Go to northshoretimes.
co.nz and click on Latest
Edition to view a snapshot
of housing zones proposed
on the Shore. This is part
of a series to raise
awareness about unitary
plan proposals.
MAYOR Len Brown warns
councillors to hold the line''
and not give in to pressure to
reduce apartment heights in
Browns Bay and Orewa.
Mr Brown told an Auck-
land Plan committee meet-
ing they had to follow a
statutory process while the
draft unitary plan was out
for consultation.
He says Hibiscus Bays'
request for four storeys is
not unreasonable'' but it's
critical that we hold the line
and don't muck around with
this process''.
Delegations from Browns
Bay and Orewa asked coun-
cillors to listen to residents
and back off unitary plan
proposals for six storeys. The
Auckland Plan Committee
instead voted 9 to 7 to stick
with six storeys -- showing
the deep rift in council ranks
over intensification.
The committee left a final
decision until after draft uni-
tary plan consultation ends
on May 31.
Councillors mandated a
political working party to
develop a plan to accommo-
date growth for East Coast
Bays and Hibiscus Coast. It
was made up of two ward
councillors and all Hibiscus
Bays Local Board members.
But this month when the
council adopted the Hibiscus
Bays Area Plan it refused to
accept a proposed four
storeys height limit in
Browns Bay and Orewa.
Senior council planners
told councillors six storeys
encouraged the vitality of
the town centres and offered
future generations housing
choice.
But the move frustrates
the local board and residents
groups who spoke at the
committee meeting.
More than 1000 people
were consulted over a year
during the preparation of the
area plan, local board deputy
chairman David Cooper
says.
Hibiscus Bays faces the
largest projected growth in
Auckland and is the poorest
operationally funded board,
he says.
But, Mr Cooper says the
area plan has widespread
support and meets council's
growth projections without
ruining our place and their
place''.
Pouring apartments in
Browns Bay and Orewa town
centres is not going to reju-
venate them, he says.
Former Browns Bay Bea-
chfront Action Committee
chairman Kurt Marquart
warns of shadowing in the
town centre from 24.5 metre
apartments.
He says design rules offer
little protection because
developers will come to coun-
cil asking for dispensation.
Browns Bay's parking shor-
tages, high water table and
sandy subsoil are also con-
cerns.
Council north west plan-
ning manager Warren
Maclennan says the area
plan informs' the unitary
plan process but is not a
statutory document.
Mr Maclennan says a
study commissioned by the
council says six storeys will
be more viable for developers
in Orewa and Browns Bay
over the 30-year unitary